ENDED: Flood Watch: Central Vancouver Island. Jan 29, 2:30 PM

The BC River Forecast Centre is ending a Flood Watch for central Vancouver Island basins including:

Somass River near Port Alberni, and tributaries in the region

Rainfall in the region today has been less than 10 mm and drying conditions are expected for Friday night. Daily rainfall totals of less than 5 mm are expected over the weekend. Temperatures at Vancouver Island automated snow weather stations have remained below freezing today and the alpine forecast indicates snow is expected this weekend at higher elevations.

River levels in the Somass River basin have begun to drop today. Flows in the Ash River (WSC 08HB023) and Sproat River (WSC 08HB008) are currently 208 m3/s and 178 m3/s respectively. The Ash River has dropped 35 cm and the Sproat River has dropped about 5 cm since the peak Thursday night.

Flows on the Ash River are expected to continue to drop steadily today. Due to the large storage capacity of Sproat Lake, flows from the lake are expected to slowly decline overnight and through Saturday. The combined effect on the Somass River near Port Alberni is that flows are expected to gradually decrease tonight and more rapidly on Saturday as conditions become dry and cool.

The public is cautioned to stay clear of rivers during and after rain events due to quickly flowing water and potentially unstable riverbanks.

The River Forecast Centre will continue to monitor conditions and will provide updates as conditions warrant.